Utah Travel Headlines

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

The Many Faces Of Sundance

The annual Sundance
Film Festival begins tomorrow (it runs Jan 17-27). As a result,
Park City
will be a zoo, crowded, busy, people everywhere chasing celebrities
and looking for parties. If you like that kind of atmosphere, this is
a wonderful time to be in town. Even if you don't have tickets,
because there are always ways to get involved at the last minute.

Don't try to drive into town. You won't
even get close. Ride the shuttles.

If you don't have accommodations in
Park City, look for lodging
in Salt Lake City. (Many festival activities are available in
Salt Lake, and it is an easy commute up to PC for others.)

Sundance is always a unique experience,
never the same from year to year. There is always something for
everyone, as shown by the two news stories referenced below. We give
the headlines and then a couple excerpts.

The Sundance Film
Festival has long had a dual personality. The atmosphere is typically
fun and fizzy — Stars! Swag! Hot tub hopping! — while the films
are dark and depressing, sometimes to the point of self-parody.

Reflecting shifts
in the independent film world — both in terms of how festivals are
programmed and what kinds of movies budding directors are putting
forth — Sundance, which begins Thursday in Park City, Utah, will
play 14 comedies and comedic dramas in its three most prominent
sections. That may not sound like many until you look back at the
2010 Sundance schedule, which featured just five comedic movies in
those divisions.

Sexual themes
ranging from kinky to creepy spice up the slate of 119 feature films
and documentaries at the annual Sundance Film Festival, which opens
its 11-day run Thursday in Park City, Utah.

More than a dozen
movies take on intimate human interaction, a number that's "part
circumstance, part coincidence," says festival director John
Cooper. "But it's an in-depth exploration of the subject of
sexual relationships — how they are all part of our basic human
need. This hasn't been explored as deeply as we seem to be exploring
it now."